Well, this is how we spent our day today... it was very interesting... the boys LOVED IT! We went to the Air and Space museum on the mall in DC two years ago, but this one, in my opinion, was much more interesting! Take a look... (sorry for some of the dark pictures)
SR 71A blackbird...fastest jet in the world! Flew from LA to DC in 1 hour 4 minutes! It is a spy plane. Cool story about how we got the titanium to build it.
Concorde supersonic jet... crossed the Atlantic ocean in 4 hours... that's FAST. 
Enola Gay ... our boys got quite an education here at this stop. Gives you pause...
WWI bomber...does this look like a BOMBER to you? Amazing to think where technology has come since the days of 1914! WOW!
Enterprise space shuttle ... this was MY personal favorite. There was LOTS to see here... the heat resistant tiles upclose... before and AFTER reentry... an O-Ring, and lots of little educational displays set up all around. Cool exhibit!
Cruise missle ... told the boys this was similar to what they are using over where Chanan is. One of the hardest displays was of the Japanese "kamikaze" planes. I didn't know about them, and got a sober education... my boys had a hard time processing that information, because they have a post-9/11 perspective... where they saw terrorists use two commercial airplanes with innocent people on board as a sort of "kamikaze". How does a 6 year old, let alone a 9 year old, process horrors like that? What a sad, fallen world we live in. But the entire tour was EXCELLENT, and I would highly recommend it to anyone! There is just TONS to see in there! Tomorrow is a low key day... last day here before heading home. We hate to leave, but it will be good to be home, too! We miss y'all up north! See you soon!
OK, I told you I'd be back. Now that I have eaten like a glutton and gained about 25 pounds, I would like to tell you about the VERY cool Christmas present that Brianna gave to Matt last night. Matt has always gone out of his way to buy Brianna very special gifts, and she always has the "sparkle" in her eye as a result. So this year, she wanted to give Matt the "sparkle" in his eyes. OH BOY did it work!!! At the Christmas eve dinner, she got everyone to sit for her little speech, and she made the comment that every hero deserves a hog, so here's the keys to yours. And she tossed the keys to him. Note the expression of disbelief and confusion...
holding keys in disbelief... you ARE kidding...After a few seconds, he RAN down the stairs and out the back door to where the motorcycle was parked. I might note here that JASON was the one who DROVE the Harley 1/3 of a mile from Matt's house to Alan's where the party was. Yes, ladies and gentlemen... JASON DROVE A HARLEY... his 60 seconds of heaven! Note the look on Matt's face now...
if this is a dream, DON'T wake me up.Dream wears off, reality sets in... hop on and start her up!
2004 Harley Davidson Sportster... that's what I'M talkin' about baby!! Honey, this is sooo cool! THANK YOU!!!
THANK YOU HONEY!!!!A little chilly out, but they took her for a short spin anyway.
Let's ride!So, I'm thinking Matt probably slept outside snuggled up to his new toy... LOL! Nah, just kidding... a little. Brianna, you make the rest of us who bought our husbands boxer shorts and a CD look bad!!!!!! But it was totally fun watching the "sparkle" in his eyes... mission accomplished.
Well, we made it to Maryland in good time. We arrived about an hour ahead of schedule (11pm). Yesterday we got a Christmas tree. Guess how much the price tag was? Just guess. $139.00!!!!!!! Yep, that's right. $139 for a DEAD TREE! Needless to say, we did NOT pay that much for it! No person in their right mind would! It is beautiful, with twinkling white lights and red pointsettas all over it! Al and Win did such a nice job decorating for christmas. We just love coming down here! Today, we are going to the Nat'l Zoo, and hopefully we'll have a peek at those pandas! Stay tuned here... maybe I'll even get to post some pictures while I'm here. Christmas eve, it is church, and then ...... CHRISTMAS DAY! Presents and football. Yep! Football is almost like a religion in this house! LOL! Oh well. I know where my heart lies (NOT in a football field). It is in Jesus Christ my Savior! Well, I'm going to go get my sudoku puzzle book and exercise my brain. Post later! Merry christmas!
Well! What a wonderful surprise we received this evening! My mother-in-law and her husband stopped by our place to introduce us to the newest member of the family... a 12 week old cocker spaniel puppy!! He is so adorable! We even got to help name him...Introducing.... FRECKLES!!!
Is he ADORABLE or what????Welcome to the family, Freckles!!!
Well... here we are... one week until Christmas! Woo Hoo! I am feeling much more relaxed today for a few reasons. 1. We got most of our shopping done Thurs. and Fri. 2. I wrapped and wrapped and wrapped until 3am this morning. So that is all done too. 3. I got all my "long distance" Christmas gifts mailed out at the post office today... can you say LONG LINES?? 4. I am feeling a little bit better today with regard to bronchitis. 5. My children and husband are all OUT today, leaving me alone to tackle the laundry, dishes, and housework. And what am I doing??? Blogging! Anyone who knows me knows that I will go to GREAT LENGTHS to avoid doing the dishes. Dishes are NOT of God.Adam is at the movie theater with a friend this morning seeing the new Narnia movie. I will be curious to know his response. It is, I believe, a special showing for families of a local church assesmbly. So it may be preceded or followed by a discussion by church leadership. Will let you know. I prayed that Jesus would touch him as he watched. My friend Kelly over at sanguinary blue posted a cute little thing that says:The Four Phases of Life1. You believe in Santa Claus2. You don't believe in Santa Claus3. You ARE Santa Claus4. You look like Santa ClausThought that was kinda cute!Well, I guess I cannot avoid the obvious any longer. Yuck. Have a blessed day! Peace!
After my little Bible study post, I thought I would bless you with a couple of pictures that have blessed ME this week! First, is a picture of a man that our family has great admiration for... Steven Curtis Chapman. He is a wonderful role model and a man whose faith in God is rock solid and REAL... he lives it. He walks the walk and talks the talk, and has an incredibly anointed music ministry. Here is a picture of Steven in concert, with his lead pianist Scott Sherrif praying for him in the middle of his concert.
And next, I'd like to show you a picture of another powerful music ministry, occuring right in our own church congregation here in VT! It is our children's choir! Here, they are singing a fun song called "Making Melodies in my Heart". THUMBS UP! Praising God is FUN!
Have a blessed day!
Let me start by saying I love and appreciate my pastor! He is a thinker, a learner, an analyzer, and a man in touch with the Spirit of God in a very deep way. He has been sounding the alarm to our congregation lately, a watchman letting the people of God know that danger isn't just coming, it is HERE. He has been teaching about the tremendous pressures being faced by the 21st century church to CONFORM to the ways of the world. Tonight's lesson was about the influence that culture is having on the people of God; an influence that we may not even realize. It was an awesome lesson. I will be doing some self-examination during my prayer time, to see just how much influence I have allowed in my own life from the post modern culture we are living in (can you say "Santa Claus"? Hello?) . He made his point by teaching us the philosophy of Hegellian Dialectics (see diagram below), which is actually very simple. Two people with differing viewpoints come together to talk. They are in total disagreement. They begin to try to find common ground by each conceding a little until they come to a completely new viewpoint that is not true to the starting viewpoint of either person. Then they begin a new conversation based on this newly created viewpoint, and eventually come to total agreement on something that doesn't even come close to what either party originally stood for. The world is TRYING to do that to the church. "Can't you just give up this belief here? Can't you just accept this little belief of ours here?" Can't you just give up your holiness standards a little? Can't you just accept our belief in a triune God? Can't you just accept the gay lifestyle as okay? Can't you just accept that there is more than one way to God? Your way is okay, my way is okay? Huh? Can you say "interfaithism"? Hegellian dialectics are impacting the church more than we realize. WHO KNEW?? Church is just a great place to learn... learn how to STAND for what God's Word has to say about YOUR LIFE. Isn't God good? :) Thanks, Pastor!
Hegellian Dialectic concept (see above)
Hello all! I am home sick with bronchitis today. Been sleeping for what seems like a million hours... need to get up and do something. So blogging sounds like a good diversion. If this sounds a little messed up grammatically, it is probably the Robitussin with codeine.I finally picked up the prize I won from our local Christian radio station. I just opened it to take a look at it. It's pretty cool. It is called "What God wants for Christmas"... an interactive, kid-friendly nativity. It is a family thing that you do every night for 7 nights in a row, telling the story of Jesus' birth. It's pretty neat! Guess we will start with ours this evening. What I REALLY want to do is invite the two children from upstairs, CJ and Taylor, who have been coming to Sunday school with us, but don't really UNDERSTAND the whole concept of Jesus as God yet. They will when we are done with this! Pray for their hearts and minds to be receptive!Well, I'm thinking it's time to head back to bed. I just want to feel better. Blessings! TTYL!
Is it possible to ACTUALLY cough up a lung? I am afraid of finding out! If I do NOT stop coughing soon, I may have a report on that topic for you! Even my Robitussin with codeine is NOT helping! Grrrr...If you want to see something cute, go to www.whitehouse.gov , and see the cute video on there of the White House dogs, Barney and Beazley. It is called "A Very Beazley Christmas". If you have children, they will like it! My boys did! :)12 days till we leave for Maryland! YAY!Time for bed... hopefully a FEW winks in between coughs..... *gasp* *gasp* zzzzzzzzzzz
Tonight was interesting. Adam came home from school today and told his little brother "There's no such thing as Santa". We knew it would happen sooner or later. Adam is nine and going to a new school with 4th and 5th graders. So tonight after Nick was asleep, mom and dad had to have "the talk" with Adam about Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, etc, all being fairy tale characters. We also made sure he knew that Jesus is VERY REAL and not at all like the others, even though you can't see Him. He told us he KNEW Jesus was real, because we have proof with the miracles he does, and His Word to us tells us he's real. That was encouraging! It was a bittersweet conversation, really. Adam knows that Santa is not real, although he's not sure he's ready to know.... he cried a little at the end of our talk as it began to sink in. But he'll be fine. Christmas morning may be a little rough, though, especially having a little brother who still passionately believes! We will just give him a little extra love and encouragement, and really focus in on the REAL reason for the season! Here is an interesting page I found this evening... just thought it interesting, that's all...
I'm not sure why, but I went back to work today... feeling about as lousy as I felt Thursday and Friday. I have an appt. with my doctor tomorrow.My wonderful brother-in-law called me this afternoon. He sounded very upset and was wanting to talk to his brother, who, unfortunately, was on a firecall. So he told me what was up. One of their cats, named Tigger, was outside today, and apparently was shot. The cat made its way back to the house (over a mile) with his back left leg barely hanging on by a thread of muscle. Needless to say, Stacy was VERY upset, but she handled it like a pro. And their daughter Meghan prayed for Tigger and comforted him, telling him, "It's OK Tigger, Jesus will take care of you. You will be fine." Ah, the faith of a child! I believe that is why Tigger, minus one leg, is still alive. The vet was clear that there was NO reason this cat should still be alive. Even he called it a miracle. So, although the leg had to be amputated, Tigger is a healthy, strong cat who is expected to make a full recovery. Ben says that now he will be living up to his namesake... BOUNCING around the house in true Tigger fashion! We will be going up to visit Tigger soon. Poor kitty! :(
Jason and I watched a movie tonight called "The Miracle Worker". It has been around a long time, I know, but I've never had the chance to see it until now. WOW! What a powerful story!
It is the story of a little deaf blind mute girl named Helen and her teacher Annie Sullivan. The story itself is amazing enough, but how wonderfully refreshing to see women modestly dressed and Scripture being recited at the dinner table in a DISNEY MOVIE! WOW! And equally refreshing to see obedience and self-control being taught to a child. A must see movie! I am re-renting it so my children can watch it this weekend... after they learn who Helen Keller is and what an amazing woman she was, and all the incredible things she accomplished in life IN SPITE of her disabilities!Well, time for bed... this girl is NOT feeling well...every muscle in my body hurts from coughing so hard all day. Muscles I didn't even know I HAD are hurting! Night night. Blog ya later.Michelle
