Packing it ALL in!

We had a FULL day on Saturday.  Mike has been working every weekend this year.  When I realized he didn't have to work this past Saturday (unfortunately he did work for a couple hours on Sunday) we decided to take full advantage of his time off and the nice weather.

We got up Saturday morning and loaded up the car and headed for Washington, D.C.  We actually got there earlier then expected so we drove the kids around to see some of the monuments from the car and Mike illegally parked with Lilah while I took the kids to see the Lincoln memorial up close.  Anna Elise had learned about "Honest Abe" in school and wanted to see him.  We were able to look at the Washington (DC as Calvin would say) Memorial from the steps of the Lincoln memorial and the reflection pool in between.  I love it!  We found parking and walked a few blocks to the Capitol.  We sat on the grass and ate our lunch and joined in  the 'Kill the Bill' rally.  There was over 30,000 people there.  The kids love yelling, chanting, and clapping!

After an hour we loaded the kids back up and drove to the zoo.  Mike dropped us off to play and he went to the temple.  4 tired kids and only 1 mom at a zoo set on two large hills isn't ideal, but it was still fun.  We took lots of rests and had lots of snacks packed.  The weather was beautiful!  Mike came and got us and we went out for dinner and then headed home.  We stopped at a McD's for ice cream and finished the trip off with Lilah throwing hers up in the car on the way home.  Perfect!

 Lots of these guys around - keeping all of us 'radical' tea party 'extremists' in line!

 Lilah and Daddy checking out the crowd

 The rally in front of the Capitol Building

 At the zoo!

Frederick

The kids have been reading the book Frederick. It's about a mouse. On the inside of the back cover are instructions on how to make your own mouse. Anna Elise decided they needed to all make Fredericks. She gathered the supplies and the kids made these on their own. We got a chuckle over them!

The first is Anna Elise's. It actually looks a lot like Frederick. She did a good job. Mike deemed it worthy of the name Frederick.


This one is Calvin's. His was looking pretty good but he just couldn't stop adding things, this Frederick has a hat, mustache, beard, cheeks, and I'm not sure what else. Mike named this one Frederico!

Here's Madeline's. So typical, she was excited to start it but wasn't interested in the details of it. She was thrilled with this Frederick with no arms, legs, ears or tail, since she didn't want to worry about putting those things on. Mike named hers just Fred.

Good News!

I found my ring! I'm so relieved.

I got my car back - the smoke smell has already faded some. I will be trying some home remedies to get rid of it. There was over a half a tank of gas in the car, which means that whoever took it didn't go far, which is weird (but good)!

We have signed a lease for one of our rentals, starting March 15th, very good! One down, one to go!

Life goes on!

What's Next?

I seem to be having a string of bad luck for the passed 2 weeks and I need it to stop now! I keep thinking "what could possibly go wrong next?" and then something else bad happens. So maybe venting about it here will stop the bad luck?!

• It started two weeks ago when I lost my wedding ring. Technically I lost my engagement ring, the wedding band isn't connected and I still have it. It somehow fell off my finger. I haven't found it yet.

• I went visiting teaching to a less active older woman. We've been before and she seems receptive and pleased to see us. When I call her she seems happy to set up an appointment. The next evening while Mike was gone her grown son called me and chewed me out! He was swearing and very angry and most likely drunk or high. He didn't like me, the church, his mamma's home teacher or the missionaries and told me that we all needed to stay away. Since he lives with his mom, I think I'll listen to him. I'd rather not run into him. After I hung up I locked all the doors!

• We found out this weekend that one of our tenants (one that pays us on time every month) is leaving, ASAP, without any notice. That is on top of the tenant that we are trying to kick out because they don't pay us. In March half our rentals will be vacant.

• Our car was stolen and our car seats as well. I found out on Monday that it won't cost almost $500 to re-key it, it will be almost $700. That's nice.

• Today Lilah locked herself in the car with my keys. It's not my car. There are no extra keys. I buckled her in, she grabbed the keys out of my hand so I let her keep them while I walked around to the other side of the car to get Madeline in. She hit the 'lock' button on the key fob. They aren't my keys, I don't usually have a key fob. Lilah eventually dropped the keys after hitting the lock button repeatedly, but never the unlock button. I was at Calvin's Kiddie Kollege - my phone was in the car. I was able to borrow a phone to call Mike, he called Pop-A-Lock and they eventually came and let me in, but not before Lilah screamed herself to sleep with me standing outside the car just helplessly watching her. I can see why she was angry at me.

However, I know that eventually bad things will stop happening. Honestly, it could've been worse and things are going to be ok. Maybe I'd better make another list of how good things are going.

• I'm pretty sure I lost my ring in my house. So it HAS to show up eventually, right?

• At least I got my visiting teaching done for February and I can still write and call this sister

• We've advertised both of our properties and we've had a good response and I think we'll have them both rented by April - we are hopeful.

• We got our stolen car back and only 3 of the 4 carseats were taken and the more expensive and newer one is the one that we still had.

• I'm thankful that our friends let us borrow their car and that the weather was mild and that Lilah was fine and that someone came and unlocked my car. Stupid key fobs.

• Oh and the snow storm that was suppose to bring another foot of snow tonight has changed it's course, it's only going to rain! =)
  

Maybe the blessings that come from this adversity will be amazing!