Quick trip to DC

Kyle and I went on an impromptu four day trip to DC in the middle of June.  I don't think we could ever get enough of that place.  From Georgetown, to Capitol Hill, to Mount Vernon, we equally enjoy soaking up all of the history that is not in short supply.  And a trip to our Nation's Capitol is most certainly in our kids' future.  We wish we could take Jaden now, but we'll wait until all three kids will benefit from the same trip.  However, we couldn't help but daydream about our eventual trip while there recently; curious about what sites might peak our kids' interests more than others as we expose them to as much as we can cram in. 

A big thanks to mom for saving the day by flying in to tend the kids.  It was a win win for us, of course, because we got away while our kids got my mom's undivided attention.  I think we'll just have to come up with more excuses to fly her in so we can have her all to ourselves.  It's so hard to share her with soo many siblings, spouses and grandkids when we all get together.  Thanks mom!

We loved the new MLK memorial.  Kyle took over playing photographer as you can see in the pics below.  I didn't know he had such an artistic eye.  Maybe I've just never given him the chance as it's rare that you get that camera off of my neck and out of my clutches.  It was a great memorial with multiple profound quotes of MLK's.  I loved it.  

The last day of our trip was spent in Georgetown, eating fine meals and hitting up the National Cathedral.  It's a favorite of mine and Kyle hadn't been so we spent a good while there, even napping under tree shade during DC's record breaking heat.  Heat that we scoffed at because we are from the deep south and we paid no mind to it.  Mostly, we enjoyed the luxury of lying directly on top of the soft grass without a care in the world for fire ants.  Such a simple pleasure in life that I really do miss for me and my kids.

 

A piece of the moon sits in this stain glass setting.  It's the small dot within the largest circle of the three circles.  It was brought back by the crew of Apollo 11.  I believe one of the crew members attended the National Cathedral private school.

 Sitting in what is always the President's spot (not nessecarily chair) for any event he (and surely someday, she) attends in the Cathedral.  

 A very scenic run from the Washington Monument, to the Capitol, to the Lincoln Memorial.

Lollipop Learners

Jaden is well into her 3rd annual summer camp that she puts on.  Each year we get wiser in the process.  This year we decided to invite a few more (as so many tend to be out of town throughout the summer), shave off an hour, raise the price and cut out lunch.  Along with those changes Jaden beefed up her agenda adding more substance to her activities in a shorter amount of time.  

It's not surprising that each year Jaden gets more responsible too.  When she and I conjured up the keep-Jaden-busy-during-the-summer/money making idea years ago, I knew I'd be involved.  Now I am an after thought and barely needed, aside from getting her to grocery and craft stores for supplies.  At the start of the summer the two of us sat down for about an hour to create her very detailed daily schedule. And with that as her guide she's taken the bull by the horns, from sending text reminders to moms the day before camp to washing up the baking dishes after everyone has gone home.  She's got a good thing going.  

The last change we made to the camp was to give Jaden the responsibility of footing the bill for the overhead of her camp, because it's a great life lesson.  Of course, since implementing that rule Jaden has become very resourceful with the supplies we have lying around the house.  Funny how those items held no value before then.  So far she's spent just $16.00 of her hard earned cash on things she couldn't find at home.  Jaden claims that she'll make that money back when I finally give-in to pay her a discounted sum for Reese's tuition.  But if I do that then I'll surely have to charge her rent for using my house to hold her classes, right?  : )

Chloe, Summer, Charlotte, Madeline, Katy, Esther, Ellie, and Anna, Hello everyone. My Name is Jaden Harris and I am 11 years old. I have been holding summer school and summer dance classes for my younger siblings and their friends over the past three summers.  This summer I will be holding a summer camp just for little girls. Once a week we will meet for a three hour period.  We will have 30 minutes of dance, one hour of arts and crafts, one hour of baking and 30 minutes for snack and free play.  The tuition for my summer camp is $10 daily.  I understand that some of you won't make it to all  of the camps offered, so, if you don't come you don't pay.  I just wanted to get an idea of who is interested.  If you are interested please respond and I will fill you in on more details and the day of the week that my mom and I choose to hold the camp. This year, I think I will call my little class the Lollipop Learners(!)  So please let me know if your daughter wants to be a part of the Lollipop Learner Camp?                                                                     Eager to play with you!                                                                      Miss Jaden

Summer couldn't come soon enough for us

And I couldn't be more thrilled that it's here.  I felt like we were in over our heads this past winter and spring with sports, mostly.   But can I just tell you how much my kids loved the sports they were in.  They had such a good time.

Jaden participated in two club sports, volleyball and soccer, simultaneously.  I never played club sports, I didn't even know what they were until recently.  Apparently, club sports are pretty essential to eventually playing any public school sports here in the south.  Two nights a week were tagged for VB and two more for soccer leaving the 5th night for piano and extra homework.  Luckily the stars aligned for her weekend soccer games and volleyball tournaments, as they alternated perfectly. We won't do that again.  It was a special circumstance that she got invited to tryout for VB and ended up making it.  And because of Junior High tryouts this fall we thought it would give her a leg up.  She loved it and kept up on her school work so all was well there. She was a busy, busy girl.

Ty started off the winter in flag football which overlapped with his first season of dad's club baseball.  I was surprised at how much I love watching him play baseball.  I love watching him in any sport because he is so darn competitive.  But baseball has been my favorite, thus far.  However, I bet I'd have felt differently about baseball if he were in the outfield.  His pitching position got him a lot of action. It was such a fun season.  So fun, in fact, that he broke his finger midseason while fielding a ball.  He couldn't wait to get back.  And frankly, neither could I.

Reese kept up with her very informal dance class.  A very inexpensive activity that was low maintenance and so laid back.  Ahh, those were the days . . .

So, all of these pictures below represent probably about 1% of all the action shots I took this season.  Seriously.  And we are now enjoying a laid back summer.

 Reese running off the soccer fields.  What a great sport she's been, sitting through all of these games.  

Oh, and there was plenty of this going on late into the evenings this past semester. Contrary to all of the pics shown, sports do not trump education at our house.  These two worked their tails off together.  What a good dad.  What a diligent student.  What a good team.  I'll take pictures, because at that hour I don't have the patience and frankly, when it comes to math, the skill either!

Sweet Grandma Rowe

Carry On was the closing song in church this past Sunday.  I was busy putting the church bag together and didn't realize it.  It took Jaden, leaning across Kyle, pushing her hymnbook under my nose to get my attention. "It's Grandma's song," she said.  And it is.  It is her song because she loved it and she loved to repeat those two words whenever someone was coming or going or doing neither.  So, of course, I dropped my bag and joined in with my family.  It wasn't hard to hear Grandma's voice in the back of my head bouncing right along to the tune.  And, so, I finally post about that memorable day.

Grandma's funeral was sweet, sweet, sweet.  I can not think of a better word to describe it.  It reflected what a sweet lady she was in her old age.  Cheerful and grateful, always grateful, is how I will remember her in her last years.  During a visit last year, I poured Grandma a glass of milk.  She thanked me wholeheartedly over that glass of milk, telling me it was delicious and then asked if I'd milked the cows myself that morning.  Must have been a good blend.  I hope I told her that I did, in fact, milk those cows.

It was a sweet surprise, during the viewing with family, when I finally noticed that Grandma's casket glowed with a faint tint of pink.  Quite fitting for that lady who loved and looked so good in pink.

It was sweet to reunite with long lost cousins, catching up on their lives and listening to their memories of Grandma.  Most of them not so different than my memories of her.

It was sweet to gather (under one roof where we weren't sleeping on top of each other) with all of my sibs (excluding expectant Deborah) just as grandma would have wanted it, because: "Family is Everything."  Another favorite line of hers to shout from the mountain tops.  I sure hope my kids can remember the inflection and sound of Grandma's voice as those words rolled off her tongue multiple times a day.  I want to remember falling asleep with Sarah and Elle the night before Grandma's funeral reminiscing about her life as we knew her.  But also, we wondered about the Mary Alice Pratt Rowe that we didn't know.  We look forward to being with her again.

It was sweet to have received the call with news of Grandma's passing within 15 minutes of her leaving this world.  I sat on the curb outside my home playing out in my head that reunion between my Grandma and Grandpa, as it was most surely still happening.  After 21 years apart they are together again.  And again, my thoughts were outside of me as I pictured Grandma reuniting with, Lorette, my mom's little sister who died at the early age of 4 after losing her battle with Leukemia. Oh, to have been a fly on heaven's walls.  

But for me, the sweetest memory of that day was watching my mom tuck her own mother into that pink casket, bidding her the final farewell of the day as Grandma's posterity looked on.  My heart was in my throat at that moment.  Thinking of it now brings me to tears.  Watching my mom care for Grandma while she lived, as well as after she passed are some of the sweetest memories I have of those two ladies.

You were right Grandma, Family is Everything.  Lucky me to be a part of your family.  I truly look forward to being with you and Grandpa again.  But until then I'll "Carry On" here with my little (and larger extended) family hoping to instill in them what you couldn't help but proclaim the instant you were informed that that unfamiliar face standing before you was family -- Family Is Everything.

 I realize that I look out of place in that shot.  First off, my pink, in honor of Grandma was a little too pink.  Probably not Grandma's taste of pink, honestly.  But Elle had it in her luggage and I wanted to wear it for the occasion.  Second, I was taking the pic and I was running in at the last minute, in those heels nonetheless, so my body language says I don't want to be a part of that family.  But I do, I do, with all of my heart.  I love that group of human beings!  And we are the definition of a group if I don't say so myself.  Also, I absolutely love Lexy in that shot!  She's the one pleading for us to cease picture taking.

 Cousins.  Spanning from one side of the room to the other side of the room.  I only had my big lens with me that weekend.  So good luck trying to get a zoomed out shot.  (We are actually missing quite a few that were in attendance.  I don't know how they missed this shot. So sorry about that.)

"The grave hath no victory and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ. "  Mosiah 16:8