Brody is Three

Happy Birthday Brodo Baggins! Some fun things about my third:

1. Loves trains. And helicopters. He seems to be in a constant debate about which he likes more and which he needs more of.

2. Quick temper! My goodness, I pity the inanimate object that crosses him. The other day, I asked why he had to punch the door and then his own head when he ran into the doorknob accidentally and he said, "That makes me feel better."

3. So loving . . . He often grabs me around the neck after I've found something he was looking for or given him a treat after lunch and he says, "You the BEST, Mommy!"

4. A very sweet tooth.

5. He loves to know the rules. Once he knows them, he never breaks them. Rules like not eating outside of the kitchen, saying 'excuse me' if someone does something rude, saying 'sorry' when someone gets hurt . . . he enforces these rules like the chief of police.

6. Dad has been calling him Brodo Baggins to be silly, so now he calls himself Brodo Dragon.

Best Friends Dress Up

Let me introduce you to Sir Jedi Batman. He wears two capes . . . just in case.And here is his crime-fighting partner, Lady Nightgown Mardi gras.
When they cannot find any bad guys, they practice fighting each other.

Cool House of the Day

Find more pictures HERE.

Today's Cool House is Trevanion in Taneytown, Maryland. Dirk found it (he always finds us the coolest places) and sent it to me. Eight acres of loveliness, outbuildings, stables, even an eight-seater brick outhouse original from 1817. I experienced love-at-first sight and began scheming so we could buy it and move in right away (did you not realize we were househunting? Ha! We aren't! We plan to stay in our current house for at least three years, but we cannot seem to help ourselves . . .).

Sadly, even with a price tag of a mere $320k, I cannot figure how we would swing it, as it is currently uninhabitable, chock full of lead paint and dust, roof leaking everywhere, and has no working plumbing, electric, or anything else, really. So, I think we would need about $200k to replace everything that's broken, and it could go well over that. Oh, and did I mention that the purchase price would have to be paid in cash? Financing is not an option when the house is falling apart. Alas, I will have to love it, pure and chaste, from afar. Anyway, here it is:

You see what I mean? A huge 6500 square feet in the main house, it has held up pretty well for 200 years, I'd say. That tower part in the front was added after the house had been around for a few years. I am not sure when, though. There is a staircase that climbs to the top of it with a perfectly charming room up there, which we thought Isaac would like. There are slave quarters right behind the house with a huge fireplace, which I would convert into an outdoor kitchen. Then the outhouse is behind that, with a female side and a male side and four seats on each. Crazy, right? The house is all boarded up now, and locked down tight. Except for one door with a lock box whose code may or may not be really easy to guess for two people with a sense of adventure. We drove out just to see it and walked the property and may or may not have gained access to the inside where I may or may not have fallen even more deeply in love. Woodwork and criss-cross patterned windows and hardwood, oh my. There are a couple of sets of stairs and it is built in the old style, with no hallways, but rooms that just go one to the next. I can close my eyes and imagine Civil War soldiers tromping through with their boots on. Unbelievable. I have a moveable feast, now I have accessed this gem that seems to have been forgotten.

Family Trip to Port Discovery

Isaac and I enjoyed going to this amazing childrens' museum so much with his school, we bought a pass and visited as a family. We will definitely be returning soon! Enjoy these pictures as I play rapid-fire-blog-post-catchup and make up for three months of not posting:They have a VW beetle in the marketplace section that you can fill up at the gas station and explore throughout.

The water play area was an instant hit.

Potty Trained!

Brody is finally done with potty training. Holy cow, he was the hardest one yet. But he did it! And I am grateful and proud. And so relieved. And so glad not to have to buy diapers for him. And so so so glad that I do not have to hold my tongue while cleaning dirty pants and looking heavenward hoping to be delivered from poop forever.

Easter

Easter was wonderful this year. The kids are really starting to get the point as we discuss the historical and spiritual significance of the holiday. We love the opportunity to bear testimony of our Savior and recognize his sacrifice.

Here we are, heading out for our egg hunt. We did not win the White House lottery, so we hunted eggs in the forest near our home.








We emptied some eggs by poking holes in the top and bottom and blowing the yokes out. Then we painted them and hung our ornaments on the bushes outside.
Yay for signs of spring! All the bulbs I planted when we lived here before have begun to pop their smiling faces up and it is so fun to see after so much snow this winter.

I couldn't resist when I was basket shopping and saw this Rainbow Brite doll at the store. . . she was my fave as a kid, and Gigi watches old shows online.

Sweet Baby

Tristan is almost eight months old. And I get tired of hearing myself say it, but I cannot believe how fast the time has gone. Even though babies do it faster than anyone else, their growth is just a marvel to me. Our little baby son is a pure joy to our family. He has THE goofiest grin I have ever seen: all teeth and dimples. I cannot imagine a cuter baby. But I think I've said that before.

Cherry Blossom Festival

We got together with some dear friends from Ann Arbor who now live in Northern VA to attend D.C.'s annual cherry blossom festival. In theory, it was a great idea. In practice, I will not be repeating this little adventure again anytime soon. While it was great to get together with friends, Dirk was working, and without him to help corral/carry/coax children with me, it is a miracle we all made it back home alive. My normally energetic children were tired of walking after about fifteen seconds and only wanted food I did not have. Our fatal error was probably beginning at the Smithsonian's Air and Space museum with a plan to walk from there to the Basin. There were SO many people (maybe Good Friday wasn't the best choice of days?), swarms of people, oodles and loads and herds of people. But we went. We survived. And here are the photos to prove it:


Sitting around the Tidal Basin. The cherry trees are really breathtaking here, as they line the Basin almost all the way around. Jeez, they are cuties. Looking at this picture makes me glad we did this.
The Lincoln Memorial.
The Washington Monument.
Lunch and Frisbee on The Mall.
My thoughts exactly; let's go hooooooooome!
This is the view out my bedroom windows right now. I love the seasons of the East!
Our very own cherry blossom festival. Our whole neighborhood has these trees everywhere, and the kids and I love it when the wind blows the blossoms in little warm snow flurries all around us. Spring is magical.